Agentic AI Week 2026 Day Two Conference: Thursday, November 12 2026

AI initiatives don't fail because of models. They fail because of weak data foundations. For AI leaders, the real challenge is ensuring their organization has the data literacy, governance, and operating discipline required to move from experimentation to production. This session focuses on how to assess and upgrade your organization's data readiness to support reliable, scalable AI systems.

• Assess and benchmark your organization's data & AI readiness

Identify gaps in data quality, accessibility, ownership, and literacy that are blocking AI deployment 

• Design a practical data literacy strategy for AI adoption

Define what different roles (execs, operators, engineers) need to understand, and how to scale that capability across the business 

• Build governance frameworks that enable (not slow) AI

Develop aligned data and AI governance models covering quality, access, risk, and compliance, without creating bottlenecks 

• Close the gap between data strategy and execution

Identify cultural, structural, and process barriers, and create an action plan to embed data-driven ways of working

Jacqueline Karlin

Ambassador
Global Women in AI (Ex-Paypal, Meta & Amazon)

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Most enterprise AI strategies assume clean, structured data, but the reality is far messier. Most valuable information sits in semi-structured formats like emails, documents, tickets, and logs, which traditional AI struggles to operationalize at scale. This panel explores how organizations can turn this "messy middle" into a usable asset for agentic systems, enabling agents to interpret, enrich, and act on real-world data with reliability and control across enterprise workflows.

• Spot high-value semi-structured data sources that can power agentic workflows 

• Turn unstructured inputs into usable signals through smarter classification and enrichment 

• Improve data accessibility so agents can reliably interpret real-world context 

• Integrate semi-structured data into end-to-end agentic architectures

As agentic AI introduces systems that can autonomously plan and execute tasks, organizations face growing complexity in choosing the right mix of tools, platforms, and frameworks. The challenge is balancing speed, customization, and control while avoiding long-term tech debt. This session explores how to make smarter build vs. buy decisions in a rapidly evolving AI landscape.

• Achieve clarity on needs by mapping AI and agent capabilities to concrete business outcomes and workflows

• Optimize technology portfolios by balancing in-house development, vendor platforms, and agent orchestration layers

• Minimize tech debt by consolidating overlapping tools, standardizing interfaces, and prioritizing interoperability

Jacqueline Karlin

Ambassador
Global Women in AI (Ex-Paypal, Meta & Amazon)

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AI isn't just changing how work gets done, it's changing who (or what) does the buying, selling, and deciding. Most companies are still optimizing for human workflows while agents begin to transact, orchestrate, and choose on their behalf. The real challenge isn't efficiency, it's opportunity. This presentation unpacks the structural gaps, data, systems, and business models, and shows how to redesign your operating model to be discoverable, invocable, and competitive in an agent-driven economy.

• Differentiate short-term efficiency gains from long-term growth by identifying where agentic AI creates new value

• Modernize operating models by shifting from static processes to real-time, orchestrated systems

• Unlock growth opportunities by designing agent-driven customer journeys instead of optimizing existing ones

Jacqueline Karlin

Ambassador
Global Women in AI (Ex-Paypal, Meta & Amazon)

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As AI becomes embedded across every part of the business, organizations are rethinking not only how work gets done, but also the roles, capabilities and skills needed to succeed. Many traditional job descriptions are rapidly evolving, with human skills, AI fluency and adaptability becoming just as important as technical expertise.

This panel will explore how AI is transforming the workforce, redefining roles and creating demand for new capabilities. It will examine how organizations can prepare their people for this shift by identifying the skills that will matter most in an AI-enabled future.

• Understand how AI is changing job roles, responsibilities and the way work is organized

• Identify the emerging technical, human and AI-enabled skills that will be critical for future success

• Explore practical approaches to building an adaptable, future-ready workforce as AI continues to reshape industries

Universities face rising expectations for always-on, personalized engagement, yet student journeys remain fragmented and slow. This case study explores how Risepoint is redesigning the student experience with agentic AI as the front door: orchestrating continuous, contextual conversations across voice and text, and seamlessly blending AI with human advisors. The result is a more responsive, compliant, and scalable student experience, from first inquiry through enrollment and beyond.

• Design AI-first student experiences starting with personas and student insights, not technology

• Orchestrate long, multi-step journeys with AI agents that know when to hand off to humans

• Student experience that is personalized, contextual, just in time, and meets students where they are

• Build conversational systems that feel natural across voice and text channels

• Align internal AI capabilities with customer-facing experiences for end-to-end impact

Sajit Joseph

Chief Digital and Transformation Officer
Tides

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Workforce challenges are no longer just about reducing attrition; they're about unlocking the full potential of people in a rapidly changing business environment. As digital transformation, AI adoption, and shifting employee expectations reshape the workplace, organizations must move beyond reactive retention strategies and focus on proactively reskilling and empowering their workforce for long-term growth. This interactive discussion group invites participants to share experiences, challenges, and practical ideas on how to evolve talent strategies to meet new demands, while creating meaningful, future-ready careers for employees.

Together, participants will explore:

• How to shift from a retention mindset to a growth mindset, where continuous learning and mobility are central to workforce strategy 

• Practical approaches to aligning reskilling and upskilling initiatives with evolving business and technology priorities 

• Ways to build stronger leadership, mentorship, and internal mobility pathways that support employee development

Rama Ryali

Head, Data Platform, Compliance & Operations
McKesson

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